Google Chiefs Back Startup Mining Asteroids for Metals

Unlike gold and silver, platinum deposits on Earth originated on asteroids that collided with the planet. Photographer: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer
Larry Page and Chairman Eric Schmidt are among the backers of a
venture to mine asteroids for trillions of dollars of precious
metals, as Earth’s resources become strained.

Planetary Resources Inc., based in Seattle, aims to launch
a telescopic space surveyor into Earth’s low orbit in less than
two years to identify potential metal- and water-rich asteroids
and begin prospecting within four years, co-founder Eric
Anderson, 37, said in a telephone interview.

The venture, which would be the first effort to mine the
solar system commercially, has the backing of billionaire Ross
Perot, Google board member Kavitark Ram Shriram and
International Software Corp. founder Charles Simonyi as well as
Page and Schmidt. Within a decade it plans to develop galactic
“gas stations” that will use hydrogen and oxygen in asteroid
water to refuel spacecraft, including satellites.

“Ripping up the Earth’s crust not only is terribly
intrusive from an environmental point of view, but it’s actually
really expensive and really hard,” Anderson said. “Why not go
to the source? There is ample technology to go to asteroids and
begin to use resources that convert them into their constituent
elements.”

Robotic mining of asteroids may be cheaper, more efficient
and environmentally sustainable than digging on Earth, Anderson
says. The company will also identify water-rich asteroids,
essential “stepping stones” which could be used for refueling
rockets and explorers in future space adventures.

‘Explore Space’

“We’re going to have to use the resources of space in
order to explore space,” said Anderson. “Instead of having to
build a new telecommunications satellite we can refuel the ones
already up there.”

After surveying and identifying precious-metal deposits,
such as platinum, in near-Earth asteroids, phase three of the
company’s plan is resource extraction, for which it will develop
robotic technology.

Platinum is used primarily by the automobile industry to
make catalytic converters. Unlike gold and silver, platinum
deposits on Earth originated on asteroids that collided with the
planet. A single metallic asteroid with a 500-meter diameter
likely contains more platinum than all that’s been extracted on
Earth, according to Planetary Resources.

“On a 50-year time scale the inclusion of space resources
will add literally trillions of dollars to the global GDP,”
said Anderson. “We’ll be the first company to do this, but no
doubt there will be many others.”

Prize Money

Beyond space mining, Planetary Resources wants more people
in space -- a mission Anderson and co-founder Peter Diamandis
have devoted much of their working lives to.

The pair founded Space Adventures in 1998, the first
venture to sell space travel. In the eight trips on Russian
rockets to the International Space Station, International
Software founder Simonyi has been twice.

Diamandis also started the X Prize Foundation, which offers
millions in prize money for grand challenges such as advances in
space travel, environmental cleanups, and fuel-efficient
vehicles.

Using asteroid water “broken into hydrogen and oxygen is
the most efficient rocket fuel there is,” Anderson said. “That
provides the radical cost reduction required to really open up
space.”

His confidence in the speed we’ll colonize the solar system
is less emphatic than his conviction asteroids will make
trillions within years.

“Hopefully within my lifetime I’ll see the first
sustainable colonies on the moon and Mars,” said Anderson, a
self-professed fan of the original “Star Wars” movies and
everything “Star Trek.”